30 Teams in 30 Days: New York Mets

What would have happened if the Mets hired George Costanza instead of Mr. Wilhelm as head of scouting? George brought a championship to the Yankees as assistant to the travelling secretary, which makes him more than qualified to assemble the Mets' roster. Nevertheless, we live in the real world, with real-life debt problems and a 25 year contract with the retired Bobby Bonilla. The Mets had highs and lows: Johan Santana threw the franchise's first no-hitter. David Wright has been locked in to a long-term deal. Daniel Murphy found a position. Jon Niese got a new nose and a new contract and RA Dickey won the Cy Young which promptly earns a trade to Toronto. So, how will the Mets fare this year?

Starting Line-up (currently, without Michael Bourn)
SS Ruben Tejada
2B Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
1B Ike Davis
RF Lucas Duda
C   John Buck
CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
LF Mike Baxter

Line-up with Michael Bourn if he signs
CF Michael Bourn
2B Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
1B Ike Davis
RF Lucas Duda
C   John Buck
LF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
SS Ruben Tejada

Clearly, the line-up would be better with Bourn at the top: he's a great leadoff hitter who can steal bags and makes the line-up more complete. 2-4 are the heart of the order and Tejada did solid at the plate when he played and the issue is 5-7. Duda struggled after being picked as a breakthrough type but he'll get a chance to play and redeem himself. Buck gets the nod as Travis D'Arnaud (key piece in Dickey trade) gets a few more reps in AAA to make up for injury time lost last year. Nieuwenhuis's plate discipline is porous but solely against righties in a platoon with either Baxter or Marlon Byrd will help. Mets have a nice core but need a few more pieces to compete with Atlanta or Washington.

Starting Rotation
SP Johan Santana
SP Shaun Marcum
SP Jon Niese
SP Matt Harvey
SP Dillon Gee

I LOVE the Marcum signing. He's a great fit for the field and one of the most underrated starters in MLB, and if he gets hurt, uber-prospect Zack Wheeler or Jenrry Mejia comes up to replace him. The Mets do have a solid supply of young starting pitching and a full year of Harvey will be beneficial. Gee pitched well before suffering a blood clot and Niese is extremely solid. Santana, I believe was fatigued after the no-hitter and never recovered from it, but a shut-down offseason and regular pitch counts will help. The rotation is in better shape now than in years with help on the way.

Bullpen
CL Frank Francisco
SU Brandon Lyon
SU Bobby Parnell
SU Scott Atchison
SU LaTroy Hawkins

I love the bullpen signings by Sandy Alderson. Lyon will probably replace Francisco at some point at closer. Atchison and Hawkins, along with the back-to-life Pedro Feliciano are all on low risk, high reward minor league deals. Now, the rest of the bullpen will be figured out by Manager Terry Collins but I believe these 5 will be a part of it.

The Mets are better suited for long-term success since Sandy Alderson took over at GM. He's gotten rid of the bad contracts and especially this offseason, make smart free agent signings - and letting Jose Reyes go looks to be the right move. The Dickey trade may have upset fans but for the long-term, Travis D'Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard will pay off. The Mets may be set for the future, but the talent in the rest of the division hurts them now. They won't be awful, but at best, this is a .500 team who likely finishes at slightly below 80 wins and 4th place.